The first U.S. solar "power towers" have produced electricity for commercial use, Scientific American reports.
The feat occurred yesterday in the Antelope Valley, north of Los Angeles on the edge of the Mojave Desert. Sunlight reflected off 24,000 silver mirrors was concentrated on two 150-foot-tall towers, producing steam that turned a turbine and generated electricity. The mini-plant can produce five megawatts, enough for full power to about 4,000 residential customers of Southern California Edison.
The demonstration project offers a blueprint for larger plants in California and New Mexico. Fourteen towers will be added to create a 46-megawatt plant (with 200,000 mirrors) capable of generating 90 gigawatt-hours of electricity over a year, according to the start-up firm behind the power plant.
Here's a video.
(Photo of the Sierra SunTower solar power plant via Business Wire.)
Posted by Michael Winter at 07:05 PM/ET,
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